My Journey...

Me, Myself and .... Marketing

2006-10-29T04:50:00.001+05:30

Well..thats what I'm goin to specialise in.Finally i got some things clear in life... professionally!Dad n Mom would'v wanted me to get into finance.. though I'm sure that they are also not clear abt the work that goes on!!Fin craze I guess...
I was asked to give my rankings for the companies..and i guess I was the only one on campus to have companies like J.P.Morgan, Lehman Bros etc. ranked right at the bottom of my list!
Marketing is fun.. marketing is what i want to do. It is the only thing i ever wanted to do after 21 years of education.It consists of all the things I love doing- interacting with people, pitchin your proposal to people, tryin to understand what they want, how to develop promotion campaigns to increase the sales of your product.... I guess I can go on and on..
INDEX has been very instrumental in making me figure out what i want to do. The kind of work i did in INDEX- interacting with clients, pitching for INDEX proposals, selling INDEX to local sponsors-working out deals to get maximum benefit..these things, however small they may sound have been a great influence for me to figure out my career.
I never really understood the funda-but I did have people telling me that I'm a marketing person and that I shouldnt even think about anythin else.Always smiled but couldn figure out which was that attribute because of which people think I'm good in marketing. The side reasons of not taking fin-I've never liked maths and i definately hate MANAC(accounting subject). Summers start from next week, I will be asked time and again to justify 'why marketing'. But atleast this time I'm more confident..a lot more confident than i was to my 'why mba' question during CAT. :)

Run up to placements..

2006-10-23T01:40:00.000+05:30

The gtalk status message of one of my friend's said:
"char din ki zindagani..slot O.. slot 1..slot 2..slot 3 "
This is what has been going on campus.. this will continue till Novemeber 6th. Summer placements.. the 'compulsary' ppt's we need to attend.. the painful forms.. 10pm deadline.. skipping dinners/lunches/breakfasts-a common phenomenon.Well this is how my life moves on after a term here at IIM-L
No matter how early we know of the deadline.. inevitably we are submitting our form just 1-2 minutes before deadline.Take today for example.. yesterday being diwali we were spared of the submissions..but still today at 9:58 pm i ran to the placement office.. at 9:59 managed to drop it in the box.. I didnt want another fine..
So much for time management!that gets me to all the 'globish' questions that i have to fill.. As i'm applying to only Marketing companies- I have lots more of- "describe a significant achievement where you overcame all the obstacles..blah blah.. " long bloody forms!tiring and painful. Some of the presentations are even more painful.
To add to that life is just getting tougher.. INDEX is comin up..(INDEX-The BIGGEST Marketing fest across ALL B-Schools.I"m the committee memeber of INDEX)lots of work in that front.. and then midterms!!first term has been so peaceful.This term i'm getting screwed in classes.. 2 prof's are asking me questions!!(thts really bad..esp wen they even have marks allocated for CP (class participation).Somebody just mentioned today that they can see me getting screwed day by day.. just 4 days after placements are our midterms and then one week later is INDEX!!All i know is that i'l feel like a 'gladiator' after this term!!
I dont know what placements have in store for me.. just hope its not too depressing..

First Month at hel(L)

2006-07-25T04:09:00.000+05:30

Well its almost been a month since I've come here to Lucknow.. patha hi nahi chala.. the life is pretty fast paced, very very different from what we had at Osmania University,Hyderabad. Most of us hardly have a lot of free time for ourselves-either we are studying or we are out partying.. though our academic rigour is increasing at a scary pace day by day, we are also having more and more fun in what little time we get.. We are truly stretching ourselves..
Stretching ourselves- well this is what I've heard a lot before I came here, now I truly understand the meaning of it. I'm very happy with IIML.. atleast till now I dont feel that I've lost something as I didnt make it through A,B or C. The entire experience is unique, stressful, crazy at times, and fun. I'm sure that thought sometimes I may really wonder why I'm straining myself so much-down the line I wont regret this experience at all.
The mode of teaching for some subjects is different- today in a subject 8 of us had to deliver a lecture instead of the prof..relating to our own experience( WE NEED TO PREPARE AND GO TO THE CLASS..SOB..SOB..).It was pretty unexpected-but yes a different experience. In one subject 40%of our marks are allocated to a BLOG BOOK, in which we have to write a story and relate the concepts of the subject to our story-creative yes..though-YES.We started writing something yesterday- it ended up being a terribly filmi love story so we have to redo it again:(
Our statistics prof expects us to relate something like Krrish and Corporate to statistics.. I really dont know what will happen in that assignment:(
IIML has a number of committes like the placement committee,the marketing committee etc. To get into any committee you need to clear 5 rounds- that means additional work apart from the already piling acad work.
As every day passes we have more and more assignments to submit..more and more presentations to give.. and more is the rigour-more is the enthu to go and chill out in the city once a week..Its been a month and we'v already had soooooooooo many parties!!(who ever said that there are no parties in hel(L)!!
The hostels are good enough (THOUGH BOYS HAVE THE NEW HOSTELS WHICH ARE NICE..GIRLS STAY IN SLUMS:(( )food is really good (we even get pani puri/ pav bhaji and burger etc for evening snacks and there is a night mess which ensures that we can have a nice break at around 2-3 in the night.)But the only worry of mine is whether I'll be able to pass MANAC( Management Accounting)-this is one subject which is giving me nightmares..
I guess I'll write more in the coming days probably..right now its around 4 30 early morning and I better catch some sleep..and be on time for the class (people are sent out if they come even 1 minute late!!!!!)

Landed in hel(L)

2006-06-30T00:42:00.000+05:30

Landed two weeks back actually.. and now I'm back to blogging.One of these days I'll post a more detailed version of my experiences here.. but for now I'm posting 2 important pictures.. our academic block and our library-two places where I better go regularly and study to get atleast a decent CGPA:)

Wonder PJ!!

2006-06-16T18:48:00.000+05:30

Offlate I'm readin a lot of P.J.'s but this one has literally made me shake my head.. so sharin it with all of you'll ..found it on orkut..

Question : You are in a boat in the middle of a river. You have 2 Cigarettesand have to light any one cigarette. You don't have anything else with youin the boat? How will you do it?
Answer: Take one cigarette and throw it in the water. So the boat willbecome LIGHTER........using this LIGHTER you can light the other Cigarette
Another deadly answer?
Scroll down a little

Another solution: You throw a cigarette up and catch it. Catches winMatches. Using the matches that you win, you can light the cigaretteIf that was not enough, one more deadly answer....

scroll down

Take water in your hand and drop it drop by drop...(TIP - TIP)"TIP TIP barsa Pani..Pani ne aag lagayee."us aag se hamne cigarette jalayee"
If that was not enough, one more deadly answer.... scroll down

Start praising one cigarette, The other will get jealous & "jalney lagega"

so do let me know how u felt after readin this..:)

The day when nothing went right…

2006-06-14T09:15:00.000+05:30

Everyone will experience a day .. one special day.. where everything magically, miraculously goes wrong..At the end of such a pathetic day I thought I’ll write a post on it on my blog which has been dormant due to my exam preperation(exams got over yesterday)
I was maha tired yesterday…but somehow ended up chatting with people till late at night and slept really late.. thought I’d get up late.. My father started waking me up from 7:(
Fought with him, screamed a bit and finally got up one hr after that.. started getting a call from my friend that I’m already late.. couldn’t have breakfast also.. My final year project(mine and Deepak’s) was adjudged the best project.. so Deepak was really curious about the cash award we were to get.. there began our horrible quest… from one building to another..one sir to another.. spent so much time just walkin and asking so many people..With the world going crazy about the football world cup..I felt like one-being kicked from one room to another.
I was so furious and irritated that Deepak thought the only way to make me cool down was to take me to a movie..went to ‘chup chup ke’ and the last one hr of the movie was so dragging so boring that I was pissed off again.. didn’t stay to have lunch with friends and came back home.
Had to go shopping ,a bad trip-didn’t find anything what I wanted.. cursed my foot for being so big that I couldn’t find good sandals for my size.
Went out for dinner… bad food.
Came back to find out that my tailor ruined my costly kurta.He once ruined a dress too some months back and when he gave me some dumb excuse I acted even more dumb by letting him get away with it because of a fit of humanity and ‘understanding the other person’ attitude. Tomorrow I wont let it happen again. I’m so furious.. To add to that my mother later in the night is giving me gyaan on stuff like “its not good to catch off something and brood over it,past is past” Now how am I supposed to react?
Thought I’ll have a good phone conversation with my best friends so that my mood becomes normal.. suddenly for everything I say, they were asking the silliest and the most obvious questions.
I gave up on the events that happened in the day.. I would’ve had worse days.. but offlate life was smooth enough. Hope good days come back from tomorrow.

Hyderabad anti-reservation rally update

2006-05-28T22:04:00.000+05:30

"Our aim is a developed nation, not a divided nation.TALENT KNOWS NO CASTE.Join the anti-reservation movement at indira park sunday 4 june 9am.Please pass this message"

Anti-reservation protest in Hyderabad tomorrow...

2006-05-21T00:11:00.000+05:30

“ In aiims 104 hrs of hunger strike 94 students collapse.Media prohibited from covering.Please spread it like fire if u feel 4 worthy of the cause.”
This was the message I got yesterday.. I knew that the doctors were given termination notices..but preventing the media from covering the protest is….sick.
I am not against the entire reservation as such.. just don’t want them to be misused by the well off OBC’s and SC/ST’s and we cannot have around 50% of the seats reserved!I got to know the other day that the government doesn’t even have the data on the population of the OBC’s and how many people is it going to benefit through this increased reservation, It just proves that it’s a political move on the part of the government.. how can they take such a step regarding a sensitive issue like reservation without any adequate data?
Protests are gaining momentum from across India.. and finally Hyderabad has woken up.. there is an anti-reservation protest tomorrow @Indira park ,10 am .So if you feel for the cause and want to extend your support..be there.
I don’t know if anything will be achieved by the protests.. the politicians may well have it their way.. But atleast I would definitely go there to express my support to the cause. I wish everyone who is against this new reservation policy participates too..

And before I end the post would like to add the sms I got yesterday:
“Once tortoise and rabbit wrote eamcet. And got the same rank but only tortoise got the seat.. do you know why?
Sports quota”

Of celebrations and parties…… and more parties!!!

2006-05-16T13:37:00.000+05:30

Yes. That is exactly what I’ve been upto this month!Life’s never been this rocking!And I’ve had a good ending to a hectic year.. 2005 has been hectic for me.. paper presentation at BITS, summer intern at Reliance , the all important placements and finally CAT!Now that I’ve achieved what I’ve wanted to I’m ‘busy’ partying these days:)
It was great fun catching up with people.. Our Career Launcher sir (Chari sir) was so kind to give us a treat at Grand Kakatiya!!(ITC Sheraton’s 5 star hotel!). For few of us it was the first time we stepped into a five star hotel for lunch!The food was awesome and hope sir treats us there everytime he comes to Hyd:) Though some guys missed out the party, it was great fun catching up with people with whom we would’ve argued horribly in a GD practice session or got worried about results together.. It was great to see everyone relaxing and excitedly looking ahead to joining their respective IIM’s.
It was also the time to catch up with the IIML students from Hyderabad. Around 6 came for the first meet at Eat Street and I got blasted to have chosen the time as 4 pm (Eat street is not a place to go at that time..:( but I had other constraints so changed the time to 4). The crowd was great!There was some Sprite’s “Sania Mania” program which the guys were apparently excited about… but I was the only girl there so I just came back home at around 6 so that they could have some fun;) The guys were fun..and in midst of all the jokes they even discussed stuff about interns,lateral placement etc. We shared a common enthusiasm about our 'to be college'. We joked that after a year we would come back to the same place wearing IIML t-shirts!One of them told me about a t-shirt lines which was "CAT sent me to L, and now I'm back from hell". All in all had great fun!
I bunked the next IIML meet because I had to go to the school reunion.. I met up with a lot of them after 6 years.Did kind of get a culture shock to see a few friends smoking and it was the first time I stepped into a pub!Some of them were just the same while others were beyond recognition!It was good that we had to wear badges which made recognising people all the more simpler.The party was well organised and a lot of effort had gone into it to get 50+ people together on one day.Most of us lost touch after 10th as we got busy studying for our respective entrance exams!!It was also fun to see people in their changed 'avtaar'.A very different kind of experience to move around people with whom you had fun 6 years back and now that bonding no longer holds due to the 'changed lifestyles'.
It was fun:)
Anyway the reason why I thought I’ll write my blog was that I remembered an incident where a very close friend of mine grumbled last year that while others were enjoying college life both of us were sitting and working hard and I just told him to wait and we’ll get our turn to enjoy!Now that both of us have a great career ahead I think it was worth all the pain.And am sure this experience will encourage me to work hard in the future because the parties at the end of an achievement are awesome!!!

The extent of sibling rivalry...

2006-05-07T17:18:00.000+05:30

I just came back from Tirupati.Due to the heavy rush we had to wait for long hours before the darshan.On one such occasion a lady sat in front of me holding her younger daughter who was around 2 years old .Her elder daughter was sitting just beside her who was around 5 years of age.It reminded me of my days with my younger sister and mother and smiled to myself.Just then the younger one spotted a fancy watch on her sister’s hands.. she wanted it.The elder one declined.Then the small girl got her mother’s attention and started to cry wanting the watch. The mother also requested the elder girl to give the baby the watch but the elder one refused.She said she was tired of giving the younger one all her things!( I continued to smile as I remember similar things happening and my parents always asking me to give stuff to my sister.I had then refused.. now obviously nothing like that happens!) The younger one then threw a tantrum and seeing that she wasn’t getting any success,she angrily,clumsily walked ahead where her grandmother(I assumed) carried her and drew her attention to something more attractive and colorful!A common sight of siblings fighting is what I thought and then immediately for the nth time in the day was reminded of the Pramod Mahajan incident.
Its really sad that a brother could shoot and kill another brother. Mr. Pramod Mahajan was one of the few politicians I liked… I used to watch him participate in the Big Fight debate on NDTV and always thought he was a great orator. He was a media savvy person and atleast for any average person like me watching news, he was very much likeable. I believed that he would become the PM one day.. but that wasn’t meant to happen.It was shocking when I first heard that he was shot, that too by his brother who went and surrendered himself. The entire situation was too bizarre.. but as days passed I hoped that like any film movie’s happy ending, Mr. Pramod Mahajan would battle it out. I kept myself updated by watching the news and reading up stuff about him. The media did some detailed research on him and his life.. Though I got to know the darker aspects of his life and that he wasn’t such an honest politician after all.. he still didn’t deserved this,that too from a brother whom he had helped a lot.
Today at a party my uncle was discussing how Pravin Mahajan would’ve been tortured maybe from his wife and friends which led to the frustration in him to kill his brother.I wonder if the truth ever comes out, but I hope that the guilty be punished.. very severely.
Sibling rivalry is ok..but killing your own brother or sister is so insane.
But this incident has shaken up many. Today the papers reported that Mr. Chandrababu Naidu has patched up his differences with his younger brother!!
The bottom line remains that a dispute between two brothers has cost BJP its most promising leader and the more I read about him, it makes me more sad that we have lost an important leader.Its a bit scary realizing the extent to which sibling rivalry/fight can go.

Responsibility towards NRIs???

2006-05-06T17:22:00.000+05:30

The recent news about Mr. Suryanarayana who was shot by the Taliban is now focusing on minor issues with the regional media trying to add masala by bringing out the story of another lady claiming to be his second wife.When we were watching the news, my sister immediately pointed out that the story is similar to an Ekta Kapoor serial and then mummy and daddy discussed if the lady was speaking the truth or not… The news channels then interviewed legal experts to know if the second wife would get any compensation.. meanwhile the first wife is in the hospital after a suicide attempt.Yes.. all this may give Ekta Kapoor some inspiration for a new serial.. but what I’m trying to say is that one issue is being missed out amongst this drama.. the issue of Indians working abroad..their safety..their rights..
I recall that during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas last January, some of the NRIs have raised issues such as safety for the Indians abroad. Last heard was that the concerned minister didn’t even attend the meeting which left them furious.Some argue that when Indians have left the country on their will and have settled in another country our responsibility towards them is over as we have a lot of security issues within our country as well. But if I can bring in an analogy over here which is of a girl who leaves home after marriage...Why cant we think the same for Indians working abroad?If they are a part of the Indian delegation, it is obviously the responsibility of the government but even if that Indian is not part of the Indian delegation (as in the present case of Mr. Suryanarayana) can the government do something about them?There are numerous Indians in the Saudi and Middle east who are being exploited but they are not in a position to approach anybody for help.
I know with the fair amount of problems at home, India cant really spread its protective blanket over all Indians around the world. This really got me thinking as to what India can really do. I read this article which suggested that: “Apart from asking Kabul to provide security as well as negotiating the deployment of Indian paramilitary troops where needed, New Delhi could beef up intelligence and the presence of un-uniformed personnel, who will work in an unobtrusive manner to gather information on security threats.”
It maybe idealist thinking but I wish the government takes some serious steps for the cause of Indians abroad.

IIM L-oving it!!!

2006-04-18T12:30:00.000+05:30

It took me a long time to write my post.. maybe the fact that I will be an IIM student is still in the process of sinking in.. ;)
The results day is one day I’ll never forget…. I got to know that I am waitlisted at IIMC (#9) and I got a reject from IIMA… The tension was mounting as there are cases of people with 6 calls and no converts.. then came the Lucknow result..I GOT SELECTED.. I felt all the tension just drain down.. The whole CAT affair had finally come to an end..
This post is a personal one.. might be boring to read..so don’t stop reading my blog because of this one;)
I think first of all I’ve been very lucky considering when I started my CAT preparation sometime around August 20!!So I have a lot of people to thank for my success and this blog is dedicated to them..
My mother , Muktha and Deepak have helped me so so much.. I cant even describe what all they’ve done for me..Thank you..
(The thanking is done in a random order..not according to priority.. so please no angry phone callsJ )
Thank you,
Chari sir..though you were in Delhi you constantly kept calling and motivating and helping me with my interview preperation.Still remember that when I was in Bangalore you called and dictated an entire Budget related document..Thanks a lot for everything sir..
Shivku sir.. for all the help regarding my interview preperation and most importantly motivation,though I think I disappointed you as you were sure I’d get into IIMA..
Career Launcher staff of Hyderabad.. Vimal sir,Sudeep sir, Dilip sir..for all those hours of group discussion sessions and feedbacks( in so much detail J ) and Srividya madam (still miss your country oven treats).
Aditya (chotu) for checking on me every Monday about my progress in the Mock CATs and no matter how horrible my percentile would be,still be so optimistic that IIMs were started to take me as their studentJ and rewarding me with a party everytime I got above 80 percentile!
Pavan and Vishal.. for all the doubts you’ll cleared regarding CAT exam,all those quant and DI doubts..
Anish, Pratyusha,Vijay, Mukta,Jagan, Lakshman , Narsimha, Tarun, Anurag, Mani and all my CL friends for helping me with my preperation.
Sudheer for helping me chill out before my IIMC interview else I definitely would’ve panicked (though its result for both of us was bad)
Sagar.. for helping me prepare and for the first time making my yahoo chats more meaningful by explaining stuff like erp(don remember it now) whenever I asked you..
Aditya for actually giving me a feeling that IIM interviews will be a cake-walk for me and overall motivating me..
Saanvi…. This little baby has brought so much luck to me.. I’m not the superstitious kind but after she was born in Novemeber first week I started scoring well in my mocks,that’s when I applied to MDI also thinking there is a chance and look now!I’m in Lucknow!

Overall I’m very thankful to God..really feel blessed that I’ve come this far..
Muktha and Deepak told all their friends that I will get IIMA or atleast IIMC..but when the results were out..we all realized that there is such cut-throat competition that they are not feeling bad either.I always wanted to go to Calcutta.. but I’m very very happy with Lucknow,the more I read about the college the more I’m loving it!My mother feels that I might still make it to IIMC but as of now …Lucknow..here I come!

Reserved India...

2006-04-06T19:17:00.000+05:30

The Government has proposed quota for Other Backward Castes(OBC) in 20 central funded universities,which includes IITs and IIMs.This will take the total reservation in such colleges to 49.5%.
Now lets picture this from a normal OC student's perspective.I have given the CAT exam this year to get into the prestigious IIMs.I have seen that many of my friends though deserving have not been able to get past the written exam even though they have a very good percentile-much much more than the SC/ST students.Both the category of students have gone to the same coaching institute and had access to the same study material.Then why this reservation which keeps students from a different caste at an advantage?Isn't this harsh on the OCs?What is their fault if they are born in an apparently better caste family?
We really need to do a reality check here first before anybody proposes an increase in the seats.The reservation was started for the upliftment of the backward less priviliged class.Why should students who come from an economically sound background take advantage of this reservation?They would have gone to the best coaching institute,then they should get the seat out of merit.So many meritorious candidates lose out.
IITs and IIMs are the best institutes in India where lakhs of students give the entrance exam every year.By increasing the reservation , it'll make it all the more difficult for them to compete where as the backward class students comparitively with lesser effort will secure the seat.It is sheer injustice.
I donot understand another aspect.If a person secures an IIM seat on the basis of his caste, because of such excellent education he gets a good job and will be financially sound by the time his children grow up.Now his children are definately not 'under privileged' in any way.But because he passes on his 'caste' to his children they too can take advantage of the reservation thereby preventing a meritorious candidate from getting his due.I think that this is an 'un-due' advantage to them.
What we need is reservation not based on the caste but based on the economic status of a family, where the poorer people maynot have access to the study material and thus may not do well to secure the seat.There are many OCs who are economically more backward than the SC/STs who take advantage of this reservation.Or another alternative is to provide the 'under priviliged' with the same study material and offer them scholarships to enroll in the top coaching institutes,it'll get all the students on the same platform.Now conduct the entrance exam and give only the meritorious candidates the seat.
Increase in reservation may also badly affect the quality of these institutes, which is another area of concern.I really wish that all of us protest against such an injustice even if we are directly not getting affected by such an increase in reservation.

Another controversy...

2006-04-05T09:49:00.000+05:30

After the HARI SADU controversy, this is another one that 'hurts the sentiments'..
"A donkey is like an Indian housewife.It has to toil all day and may even have to give up food and water.Atleast, the donkey is a shade better,as the housewife may just complain and leave for her parents' home.But you will never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master"
And to make things worse,the above is not a joke-THESE ARE STRAIGHT OUT OF A CHAPTER in Rajasthan Education Board's Class IX Hindi textbook.When I read the above, I was pretty furious!These kind of articles may make me sound like a feminist!
Now all of us have agreed that Hari Sadu controversy was uncalled for and the victim must take things in light spirit.Here also the board member has justifies the above lines saying that the comparison was made in good humor, without any intent to hurt or humiliate.
Isn't the above sheer humiliation??You can't compare a women like that!And you definately cant have young children studyin the above as part of their education.We also have to take into account that in Rajasthan,which is perceived to be a bit backward where women still use a part of their sari to cover their faces and lead a horrible life without any individuality-such articles will definately affect the minds of the young boys who will grow up to become "male chauvinists".How can they respect women and help them to come out of their typical housewife image if the adults-of-tomorrow read outrageous stuff like this?I think that this protest is on the right track and must be continued till the chapter is deleted from the text book.I extend my full support to this protest.But I'm very curious to know the reaction of my "male chauvinist" friends to the above controversy;)

Liar Tunes...

2006-04-02T19:54:00.000+05:30

hey,picture this...
The other day I went to a restaurant with my family.As we stepped into the hotel,we heard a man (who looked like a telugu movie villian)screaming into his phone-"I'm at the airport now..will talk to u later".We quietly went back to our seats and giggled.The guy continued to sip his beer and was talkin to another man seated in front of him.
After about 20 minutes,the guy yells a "hello" again and I direct my attention to him!He's again on phone and this time says "Ya,ya I'm in the plane now.Put down the phone!"Trust me, the entire episode was more hillarious as he said the stuff in telugu.
We started laughing loudly..I mean the extent to which people go to avoid somebody.I think we all would've done something sometime similar (obviously not this outrageous!). I do remember sometime back(maybe years back) I'd ask my mother to answer my phone and tell the person I'm not at home.I dont do that anymore!:)
And coming to "Liar tunes", I just got to know that IDEA is offering a new service which will help you to lie more convincingly.For eg. if download the "traffic liar tune" then you can call your boss to tell him your late because of traffic and in the background the boss will hear traffic sound (like car horns etc), while you can enjoy somewhere else.It'l be terrific to ask leave saying your baby's not well and have a baby voice screaming at the background.
It sounds fun..unless I'm at the recieving end of it;)

ALLGOs Cancelled...

2006-03-27T14:09:00.000+05:30

Allgos= ALL-GO-RHYTHMS… our annual cultural festival at Osmania University. This year its cancelled, well not that it affects me as I wouldn’t have ‘actively’ participated in it for reasons best unknown! But it reminded me of the scene in Rang de Basanti where an ABVP/SFI (Akhil Bhartiya Vidya Parishad/Students Federation of India who are responsible for quite a few boycotts in college which we inturn utilized it constructively;) )type of an activist spoils the ‘masti ki pathshaala’ of the ‘cool dudes’. Well something similar has apparently happened in our college.. they threatened to have a ‘RAASTHA ROKO’ (where they’ll just sit off on road and cause inconvenience to everybody till the college is forced to listen to them) if the juke-box is allowed at the festival.
Now jukebox is one event which is enjoyed by the majority guys of my college.. where they dance(if I can call it that!) on the steps of our main building with loud music (which sometimes hurts!) and do nothing more than just jump and jump and jump the full day.
Now our ABVP friends have objected to this juke-box and have ‘given permission’ to have an ALLGOS without jukebox.Our college guys didn’t agree-So it stands cancelled.
A lot like the movie right?Here too the ABVP guys feel that its not part of our tradition etc.
Now I don’t know if this influence of ABVP on college students is good for them or not.. but I’ll surely miss looking at the guys jumping on the steps ,feeling good about themselves with their ‘new moves’. It can get quite hilarious sometimes to see even the most padaaku junior doing something funny, and though the festival in our college may not be as good as an iitian or a bitsian one, at least in these three days we get to meet fellow students from other departments and basically have fun.I think with juke box or without, we should’ve had our cultural festival.
And if I can add a paragraph on the movie-Rang de Basanti.. I liked it a lot.(Some do say that nowadays I tend to like ALL the movies after I saw ‘neel n nikki’ as tend to compare movies with that one so I end up liking all the movies!).The revolutionary part was also well made, well I felt like becoming a ‘rebel’ after the movieJ I think it’s a ‘must-see’ for all. But well, not everybody liked it. I forced my father to go to the movie and I got to know later from my mother that he slept throughout the movie- well almost.So he wasn’t even awake when the defense minister was killed and so came back and told me that the movie had no story!!!(we laughed full evening when he told us that!)

Mouse-trap???

2006-03-26T11:05:00.000+05:30

I came across this article today-"Cyberkids caught in a mouse-trap". It talked mainly of two examples which proved the harmful effects of the technology and gadgets on small kids.The first one was about an eight year old who loved playing a Hunting game onscreen and his parents were only too happy to indulge him.The game involves shooting down the enemy with a pistol aimed at the screen.Now his addiction has caused headaches, inability to concentrate and an involuntary movement of his head from side to side.
Scary isn't it?Now the second example that was talked about is an observation of a primary school teacher who said that it was difficult to get her students to grip the pencil (forget writing with it!) because these kids spend long hours holding the mouse or sms-ing which has spread their thumb and fingers apart,so they find it difficult to bring them together to hold the pencil.
I have never considered how long hours in front of the system would THIS way affect the kids.(We adults are anyway addicted!Its sometimes difficult for me to write my exam in english and not use our sms lingo!).I have very young nephews and nieces and I thought it was a very good idea to make them learn their nursery rhymes and play games in front of the computer.I even bought a few cds.. But after reading this article i guess my little niece just has to do with the boring coloring books or those dot-to-dot books which we used to use as kids!Am sure most of us are over-doting on the kids in our houses, so I am writing this post to 'save the kids from mouse-trap':)

HARI SADU...

2006-03-22T22:11:00.000+05:30

I'm sure that most of us would agree that one of the most hillarious ad has to be naukri.com's HARI SADU-H for HITLER.. ad.Am sure I don't have to explain it.
I'm right now a student, so don't really know if real-life bosses are so horrible..but a story came up on tv today which has 'encouraged' me to write the blog.
A man has filed a petition in the court of law to sue naukri.com guys (Rs. 1 CRORE!) in relation to this ad.On first thought i couldn't figure it out.Almost everybody i know had appreciated the ad for its humor element and creativity.The reason for his anger is the way the name 'Hari' was treated in the ad.This man has a (middle school aged) son named HARI.Apparently this Hari (jr.) is being traumatised as everyone makes fun of him now.They just call him 'hitler' or 'sadu' or say mean stuff 'inspired' from the ad.
Ridiculous!That's what I thought of the story.In the world of brainless advertisements.. (like shahrukh doing a "main hoon na" in the bath tub!) we hardly get to see an advertisement worthy of being appreciated.Agreed that probably the Hari Jr. is feeling bad, but maybe he requires councelling or something, the father just can't take up such a step.If that is the case then all the people with names identical to our bollywood villian characters will end up doing the same thing!
I personally feel that what the father of Hari Jr. is doing is wrong. Instead of helping his kid grow up and face the teasing himself, he'l holding naukri.com guys responsible!
Every parent thinks that his child is second to none-but i just hope they never forget that their child is not perfect.
All in all I think it is a contoversy uncalled for..

Disable or Differently able?

2006-03-21T15:35:00.000+05:30

I’ve read a lot of magazines over the past few months (thanks to my interviews!). When I thought about them, there was only one article that came to my mind instantaneously.. I’ll give a briefing on that article which was published in ‘The Week’ (March 19)..
It is about Joby Mathew who became the first Indian to win World Arm-Wrestling Championship.If that alone is a great achievement-read on.. Joby’s is a saga of great determination to overcome his congenital disability- his legs are ONLY HALF A FOOT LONG.He says- “Being differently able does not mean you are disable.”
This article touched me.I mean this guy actually overcame his disability mentally and look at what he has achieved, something that even normal people could not. He did not consider it as his weakness and has showed great determination. I can never imagine myself doing anything like this. (I sit and crib about a hand pain or leg pain than do something constructive in that time). One look at his photo is enough to inspire you.(I scanned a lot to post his photo on the blog,maybe sometime later).
Whenever I crib about something that doesn’t go my way, a close friend of mine always asks me to look at the people around me (in a more broad sense) and then I’ll see that compared to the people who live on roads with no food to eat, we are all far better off and blessed.I never took his words seriously but just remembered while writing this!
I think another aspect that comes to light is about these group of ‘differently able’ people. What they need is not our sympathy but more of our encouragment. Joby says,” The real villain in my life is not my disability but poverty” .So one more wish added in my list of “Things to do in life” other than making it big is to help these people, encourage them and give them financial support.
That also brings me to the movie ‘Iqbal’ (LOVE THAT MOVIE!). Even in that movie Iqbal is shown as a strong character who is not dependent much on anybody and encouragement did wonders for him. I really wish I get an opportunity to help some differently able person sometime in life.(the word ‘disable’ doesn’t exist in my vocabulary now, and if you notice that the word ‘differently able’ has some sense of respect, something that they deserve).

My 21st Birthday…

2006-03-19T00:09:00.000+05:30

I don’t know how u guys felt on ur 21st bday,but for me it wasn't like my other birthdays.. I felt really different today..as if I suddenly realized tht now I’m grown up!I mean-21 is considered to be an ADULT!(baap re-me an adult!!).I was excited on my 18th birthday because at tht time I loved growin old..but not anymore..Me and my friend came to the conclusion tht at 18 ur a major but at 21-ur an actual adult(mentally kathe!)
(I stil think-“My God!I’m ACTUALLY 21”)Maybe now I see the responsibilities that are lying ahead.I mostly will move out of Hyd-either for studies or for my job-so for the first time wil be stayin away from mamma-daddy!N one of the worst parts of growing up is tht my young nephews n nieces wil now call me chinnamma(aunty) rather than an akka(didi)which I would’v loved.
I just remembered a few of my cousins who got married at 21!WAT THE…..$#@#$%% How could they do tht..I mean-I stil feel like a kid(NOT THT I BEHAVE LIKE ONE!).So this coming yr I guess I’l also have to face some anxious over excited relatives who just jump over innocent girls who just crossed 21 to get them married!
Thanks to Orkut-a lot more friends called n wished-I felt really good.So for once I think orkut rocks!!
Now coming to my celebration part-it was pretty good..esp the evening!It didn start off too well..the lunch place was disastrous-the food sucked!I saw ‘harry porter’.Now I know thts not a very good idea(everybody’s whose heard this has just been askin me-“why harry porter” because I’m the kind who slept off reading the first harry porter book..tht too in the first chapter!).
The most embarrassing part was in the evening.We had a small get-together at a hotel..there was another group of around 10 ppl beside us n they suddenly started singing the “happy birthday..” song..It was the birthday of a qute boy..hardly 5 yrs old n his mom was helping him cut the cake-the scene was pretty qute!now fastforward an hour and a half.(tht family was stil there beside us)Suddenly I was surprised by a cake.(Till here it was ok).N then my family started singing "happy birthday dear divya.." tht too loudly!!!(with my jeeja ji encouraging everybody sayin”we should be louder than them!”)From my aunts-uncles to my youngest cousin everyone started singing n then clapped after the song!I even blew the numbered candle-21,2 n 1!!I really felt like a mix of a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old looking at those candles..I started the day feeling I’m a grown up now n again thinking about the evening..maybe am stil a kid and woh sab responsibilities ke liye abhi time hai...shayad!!

My IIM Interview experiences..

2006-03-17T05:10:00.000+05:30

When my madam at college asked me about my interviews in front of the whole class-i just smiled and said-"Good".When my friends asked me i said-"ok,ok" n wen other iim call getters asked i just laughed!because i knew tht they are the only one's who'd understand tht no matter how well you do or how bad u do..u just cant judge ur chances of makin thru...
"So near yet so far.."
(i don kno why i'm comin up wit such cliched stuff today??)
my 5 calls are done..yet i don kno where i'l be.(I fortunately did my iimc well so..).But as far as the experience goes..I LOVED IT!
I met lots of ppl..had great fun before and after the interview..I esp remember my iiml interview where all the guys were so cool...they went on buggin a guy tht he'd convert the call as he was the only one wearin a stripes shirt while all of them were wearin plain shirts!so imagine all the silly stuff we were upto while waiting for our turn..the most wise-est statement tht was usually made to ppl who were last minute craming thru books was-"don try too hard-they'l screw you anyway"
N thts really the truth..those IIM profs are..don kno wt!no matter how much i wud prepare-each time i got screwed on something unexpected.Their knowledge base is tooooooo wide!.I now respect them a lot more than i did before..
The stress interviews were fun!!and especially wen they ridicule you and make u sound dumb-in my case,I would just smile n internally did feel dumb!!n continued to smile after tht!!
The no. of girls for the interviews were very very less..(so tht increases my chances as apparently the iim profs wudn screw up the girls ratio at their coll).
I also met guys who were so depressed tht they were goin to iim n not xlri as apparently the girls to boys ratio in the latter is 1:1!!!!so the guys were sulkin tht the kind of girls who come to iim's are so boring-Maybe this time they can cheer a bit;)
All my interviews were at IIM-B..chatha city(sorry banglore-ians) but the campus is reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally good.Everytime I go there,really wished i could study there.(Few guys wished too..as they saw a few 'hot babes'-as they called them, on campus!)
Anyway I shouldn get too greedy because wen i wrote CAT I thought MDI was my only chance..I'm very fortunate to have had this experience and now that its done,i'v given the interviews my best shot-i'l keep my fingers crossed and wait for the results!
(wish me luck!!)

My first one...

2006-03-17T04:29:00.000+05:30

Hi guys!
My first blog finally...I kept delayin it..now tht my iim interviews r done,this is the only constuctive activity tht i could think off."My Journey..." it may sound cliched but frankly wen i thought abt wat i wud be posting..this was wat came to my mind.So guys,please comment wen u read my blog-it helps.N now if i'm asked to dedicate this blog then apart from my mom..(blah blah), sagar was the most important influnce-thanks!
I'm signin off now..hopin tht u guys wont get 'victimised' in the future:)